Art from the Heart - Feb 9th

What's this? We are making our own Arts & Craft Show. It's finally true! So exciting!

Arts/crafts show @ the Union in Downtown Madison
As a handmade seller myself, I understand the frustration going to shows and having them a muck with commericial crap. There will be none of that here! It promises to be well run and actually ONLY handmade products!!!!!!!!!!

There will be 35 booths in addition to a couple of make&take craft booths.

Booth fee is $50 and that includes a parking pass and a meal card for lunch.


We just opened up to take applications. Applications are open until the end of this year.

Let me know if anyone has any questions.

We are partnering with the Union on this show, so there promises to be lots of advertising done.

Please visit the blog to apply.
http://artfromtheheartfair.blogspot.com/

Rolled Paper Bowl Tutorial

 Rolled Paper Bowls.

Really the options are limitless to how large/small you can make these. If you are using a magazine, like I am here, the color comes out mostly whiteish with splashes of color.

So we start by tearing out the pages. Then roll them like this:
If you have a magazine that is just stapled in the middle, you can take that out and get double wide paper and make really long tubes! bonus**
You can either use a glue gun or a glue stick at the end to hold in place.

 So roll like a billion of the tubes. Seriously, it takes way more than you would think.

Then you want to flatten the rolls.
So just squish them between your fingers...

 And voila, you end up with the tubes looking curvy like these.
This is the beginning of your bowl shape.

So start rolling the 1st tube. You should make this as tight as possible.

So when one tube runs out, hot glue another one to it and continue. Repeat*

So I'm making a smaller bowl to hold pins at my desk, so I only did like 8 billion tubes! It was like 1/2 a beading catalog worth of tubes.

Then you want to push the bottom of the circle out. If you have a bowl you can lay this on, that works great to get an even shape. So push it over the bowl template.Try to do it evenly.

Dump a bunch of mod podge or whatever glue you want to use into the bowl.

Brush around the inside of the bowl. Let dry and repeat on the outside of the bowl.

*you can repeat this step a couple of times for a super sturdy bowl.

I like to spray the finished bowl with an acylic lacquer. This makes it shiny and gives it some water resisitance.

 PS I have some cool bowls up in my etsy shop if you want to pursue other options Fun Paper Bowls

Recycled Plastic Bag Tutorial

Start by selecting some good plastic grocery bags.

Note depending on the size of the bag you are going to make, you may need ALOT of bags!!!

I recommend getting some different colors to give your bag some flair, but whatever you have around works well.

Start by cutting off the handles and then work your way around the bag cutting it into even strips (I use my thumb as a measuring guide. Strips are the same width as my thumb nail, so approx 1/2" wide). These strips will fold up as you knit/crochet, so this isn't the final size.

So now you should have a giant pile of plastic strips.

Cut up some more bags, keep going until your hand cramps up and you may have enough bags to make a bag! If not you can always cut more later.

You can connect the different bags by just tieing a simple knot. There is nothing easier.

Roll your plarn (plastic yarn) into a ball to make it easier to work with and to keep yourself from tripping over it when you take a break (or if you are me, to keep your dogs from running through it and ripping the strips apart)

Keep different colors in separate balls, after all it's not everyday you go shopping someplace where you can get a pink/orange or blue bag. Those are special!

And Start Crocheting your bag. You know how to knit/crochet already so just work the plarn like you would any other yarn and make the bag you want

And voila! It's a super durable, waterproof bag. Totally awesome and you saved soooooo many plastic bags from going to the landfill or winding up in the ocean where they kill the sealife. Aren't you so smart!

This bag and others like it are available for purchase in my etsy shop!

Click here to go to the bag section of my shop

Thanks for reading and I hope you have lots of fun making you own recycled bags

Wow how the time Flies

I can't believe my last post was last July. That seems like ages ago. I bet everyone is wondering what happened. Let me tell you, we had a baby October 13th and that has pretty much consumed our world. We still have the etsy shops and have done just a few craft fairs, but I have really slacked on blogging and facebook updates. I apologize to everyone and I make a promise to wait almost another year for the next post :)


So what have I been up to? My personal new obesssion is ribbon rings. They are the coolest thing and I have more than 20 different styles up in the shop right now.

Click here to go the ring section of our shop

Some rings are simple and elegant, some are quite large, some are just fun with fruits and buttons. A little bit of everything to suite everyone's tastes.

And the best part is..... they are all on adjustable ring bases, so they will fit everyone!






The other new thing is the expansion of our apparel line. I have to say I believe this was solely motivated by having a baby and wanting unique thing for him to wear.

Baby Onesies: Click here

The hubby has been having lots of fun with zombie and star wars inspired onesies.

Not to forget his ever expanding line of adult zombie shirts (obsession or just crazy??? you decide)
Adult Zombie Shirts Here

I am really loving the blood splatter look he has going now and think it gives the zombie items that extra something cool.